The End Of All Things
by Daemonette19
Summary: The final battle between Malak and Revan. Even with the assistance of Avery, the persona the Jedi programmed her with, will Revan be able to bring herself to kill Malak? She did after all start him down his dark path. LSF Please Read & Review!


A/N: So finally we've reached the end of KOTOR. Of course I use the term 'the end' loosely as I still have a few ideas floating around and then there's The Sith Lords. That set has already been started although once again I'm unsure whether to write it as a group of one-shots or have a go at a more novella feel.

Things to know when reading:

Renee Eran was the third of Revan and Malak's little triumvirate and Malak's lover. She has been mentioned in earlier chapters.

"normal text" is a vocalisation

_"italics"_ is used to represent the discussion between Revan and Avery as much of that takes place within their head.

**The End of All Things**

Revan palmed open the door, she stood unflinching as it cycled open. She held herself open to the Force, allowed it to move about her and through her. It was difficult to touch within the Star Forge, tainted somehow. Still she relished the sense of quiet, of peace that it gave her, especially now. Avery was still raging in the back of their mind, totally thrown by Bastila's defection, first from them and then from Malak.

_"He must have hurt her, tortured her or something, Bastila was too strong to just give in"_

_"Of course he did. It's a very effective method. Once your student learns that only you can lesson their pain or bring them any pleasure they grow dependant on you. It's quite easy really, assuming you have the stomach for it"_

Avery mulled that over "_That's pretty sick, Rev"_

_"Whatever works. Remember also that often it is the strongest that fall the hardest, particularly if they are arrogant and Bastila could be very arrogant"_

_"You saw it as arrogance? To me it was youth. She always seemed too young to be a Jedi, too stuck up. You know she was one of the task force sent to capture you"_

_"Kill me, you mean. She is lucky to have survived then. Interesting that you saw her as stuck up, I saw uncertainty and fear. Either way now she has the opportunity to help us, her Battle Meditation will help offset the greater numbers of the Star Forge."_

_"For a while"_

_"She will give us the time we need_

They came to the last door.

_"Malak is waiting just behind here"_

_"Revan…before we go in…that mask Bastila had, it was yours wasn't it?"_

_"Yes"_

_"Where did she get it then?"_

_"From Malak, he would have kept it as a trophy, proof of his victory"_

The door cycled open, revealing a large round room. Strange shadowy tubes rose from elaborate computer consoles giving the impression of some sort of bizarre colosseum. Standing waiting for them was the Dark Lord of the Sith, Malak's tall heavy frame cast an ominous shadow. His lightsaber may still have been clipped to his belt but the tenseness in his arms and legs betrayed his readiness. Both Revan and Avery cast a quick glance around the room, quickly analysing and memorising the layout.

"I see you no longer wear the robes of the order. Tell me Revan, do you walk in the light or have you embraced the dark?" even through the vocabulator Malak's voice dripped with derision.

"I follow the path of light, Malak even if I do not always agree with the teachings of the Jedi"

"Ah… so you are gone rogue then, Revan. Is it that you no longer believe in the insipid teachings of the order or that you no longer have faith in those that teach such drivel?"

She smiled, gently, sadly. "It is that I realise there are few absolutes in the universe, Malak. There is a very old saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' We walked that road, we know it well, you and I. But now, I choose to walk my own path. I am here now, not as a tool of the Jedi but as your friend. Come with me, leave this place." Her demeanour changed slightly, going from a woman bowed with sorrow and regret to that of tightly restrained anger, "You don't know me Malak, though I know you, but I'm all for killing you. Not out of anger, though I am angry, or vengeance, though I want revenge", her voice shook with the power of her rage, "I think you're an animal, a rabid creature that should be put down before it can hurt anymore people."

His eyes narrowed,"Have you finally gone mad, Revan? There will be little pleasure in your defeat if you are not aware of it."

"Not quite. My name is Avery Khan. I'm one of the survivors of the Endar Spire you have been hunting for. I'm also the personality the Jedi programmed Revan with after you turned on her. In a way you are responsible for my birth and also for the hell I have had to go through."

"You ARE mad. And the Jedi have caused it. Delightful, absolutely delightful" he roared with laughter, "Avery, I can feel your anger from here, so powerful. Why not take control. Help me destroy Revan and stand at my side. Let me heal the disfigurement of your face, let me show you the beauty of the dark side, how to use that anger. Let me make you real." The metallic voice had settled into a disturbing purr as he voiced the seductions of the Dark Side.

Avery's hand had risen, self consciously to her scarred face. Their thoughts turned back to the polished mask, Bastila had offered in the Astronavigation Room. No. The marks were from Revan's' frenzied attempts to deny her past. Marks of honour Canderous whispered in the night as he traced them with calloused fingertips. Carth would trail kisses down the scars as he fought with the fastenings to her armour. For him they represented the vehemence with which she had rejected the Dark Side.

"There is no disfigurement, Malak."

He watched her thoughtfully, idly tapping a finger to the side of his metal jaw, "I am tempted to try and capture you alive, Revan, Avery, whoever you are. This …fissure within your mind interests me. Perhaps I could break your will and mould for myself a third loyal personality to bind as my apprentice, as I did Bastila. You would be a far greater asset to me than even Bastila and her Battle Meditation, if I could control you. Are you worth the risk? Perhaps you are too powerful, too … unstable to be my apprentice. I betrayed you when I realised my strength was greater than yours; in time you might try to do the same to me."

"Please Malak, this is your last chance. Surrender", Revan's voice was full of such pain, such sorrow that the Sith took two unconscious steps towards her, automatically reaching for the small woman who had been such an important piece of his life. Her hand reaching for him halted him, he shook his head, "No Revan, this time our confrontation must end in death … yours or mine. Once again we shall face each other in single combat… and the victor shall decide the fate of the galaxy."

"Perhaps you are right, Malak," her beautiful purple eyes swam with tears, "but I will never forget this and never forgive myself." The twin violet blades ignited with a snap-hiss but she stood there and waited for him to initiate the combat. She could not bring herself to strike the first blow. Avery waited quietly, overwhelmed by the grief that flooded Revan's thoughts.

He charged, the double bladed red lightsaber weaving an elaborate defence in front of him. Revan simply stood her ground and caught the swinging blade on her own, she fought with an economy of movement that left him panting while she watched him calmly. Again and again she turned his own strength against him, never moving a fraction more than she had to. Where Malak forced his blade through the air, where he swung at her with all his might, Revan let her lightsabers dance, they skipped and skimmed, slid along the red blades, pushed lightly but constantly, raising a multitude of small cuts and burns. Malak's stamina was his most dangerous asset and Revan worked hard at whittling it away. Finally he made his greatest mistake, he feinted left and spun bringing his red lightsaber stabbing straight towards her. Revan skimmed her violet blade along the crimson raising a shower of sparks, her wrist twisted sending his blade past her waist, close enough to singe the material of her robe. Malak stumbled and the matching violet lightsaber bit deeply into his side. Pulling free he staggered backwards one hand outstretched to catch himself against the bulkhead.

"Don't make me do this, Malak. I have no desire to end you," Revan's voice shook as she watched the tall man lean against the wall. She had always been better than him, over twenty years of sparring against each other and the amount of times he had bested her could be counted on one hand.

"End me, Revan? You have no idea just how wrong you are" Malak's body tensed and arched and deep within herself in that quiet, still place where she felt the Force she heard it scream. The Force itself seemed to dim, momentarily.

Black lightning arced across the room to Malak. It created a writhing bridge of energy between one of the shadowed tubes and the injured Sith Lord. The shape within the tube spasmed. Revan reached out instinctively. Belaya! The female knights pain overwhelmed her and she collapsed on the floor. Avery saw Malak re-ignite his lightsaber, shunting Revan to the back of their combined consciousness she stood and watched him warily.

Avery slowly stretched aching limbs and wiped sweaty palms on her short white robe. She kept her gaze on Malak, knowing that if she looked at what once had seemed to be no more than shadowy shapes within the tubes, now she would recognise fellow students.

"Do you see Revan?! I am unstoppable!" He stood before her, uninjured, unharmed, even now she could see a last cut across the back of his hand close. He flexed it and came charging at her.

Avery was ready to fight him but her body ached from Revan's earlier encounters. Revan herself, continued to whimper and retch in the depths of their mind. She had felt the full terror of Belaya's death.

_"Everything she was, everything she could have been was ripped from her, Avery. For Belaya there is no Force, he swallowed up all of her._" Revan was growing angry and red lightning flickered about Avery's hands in response.

Malak's red lightsaber spun towards them, Avery knocked it aside while arguing with Revan, her own earlier anger had calmed in the face of Revan's terrible grief but now the other woman seemed lost in her own rage. The twin purple lightsabers deflected arc after arc of the Sith Lord's lightning. His harsh robotic voice cackled as he moved towards Avery. The double-bladed lightsaber had returned to him and now he spun it confidently.

Backing away Avery tried frantically to calm Revan, _"Don't be stupid, Rev. I can't fight him and you. Work with me here. Help me stop him"_

_"The tubes have to have life support systems,"_ Purple and red lightsabers hissed as they met above their head.

_"Keeping the Jedi alive or contained. Could they help do you think?"_

Four swift strokes pushed her across the room.

_"Alive, I think"_

Sweat soaked Avery's hair and stung her eyes as she shoved Malak's blade away. Dropping under the return swing she drove her boot into the side of his knee. It made a satisfying popping sound as he staggered and fell to the floor but before she could finish rolling away he grabbed her by the ankle. Revan sparked purple lightning into his eyes while Avery scrambled away. Running up the ramp to the overhang, the two conversed.

_"What if we fried the units?"_

_"The back ups would kick in. Plus the energy needed would be …"_

_"…exorbitant," _they ducked under an instrument panel as it shattered against the wall.

_"They may not be run off a central computer"_

_"Individual processors?"_

Revan used the Force to delve into the Star Forges circuitry, while Avery kept evading Malak's spinning lightsaber. He hobbled after them, tearing panels of the walls to hurl at her.

_"Each unit's controlled by a droid brain!"_

_"What! Did you shut it down?"_

_"I can't get past the security back-ups"_

Revan took control again, while Avery eased back to concentrate on using the Force to bypass the security system. The dark haired woman once more moved with the grace and confidence of a sword-master. Hurried as Avery's training had been it was impossible to expect her go up against a fully trained Jedi Knight and Sith Lord and win. Revan had nearly twenty years of weapons training and successful missions for the Jedi. She had gone to battle against droids and humans, aliens and insects. She had combated and defeated Mandalore himself and in later years she taken on Malak's training. She knew him inside and out. She knew his strengths and his weakness and she was not about to let him destroy another student. This had to end quickly and once and for all.

Taking advantage of the debris Revan kept a steady stream of small stinging missiles flying at his eyes, exploiting Malak's almost obsessive fear of further damage to his face. He winced and turned away trying to shield himself. Blurring and blending the light Revan ran lightly along the gantry. Crouched by one of the far tubes, both women resolutely looked away from the dark shape within.

_"I've severed the security links"_

_"We need to keep him occupied while I destroy the droid processors. I have to do it all at once, we can't give him a chance to heal again."_

Avery pulled an adhesive grenade from their belt, "_How close do you think we can get this?"_

_"Close enough,"_ Revan's answering smile was slightly wan.

_"It's necessary, Rev"_

_"I know"_

Revan vaulted over the railing. Slinging a lightsaber back on her belt she moved towards Malak. The single lightsaber forms required more strength but the more she battered at him the more he would be required to concentrate, solely on her. Hissing, sparking, screeching the blades met time and again, the violet and red weapons slid against each other, pushing and pulling, each collision showering the combatants in hellishly coloured sparks. Malak had superior height and weight but no-one was more in tune with the Force and their weapon then Revan. So caught up was he in their violent competition that he failed to notice the tiny tendril of power that plucked the miniature grenade from Revan's belt and secured it to back of his boot.

Hearing Avery's silent affirmative, Revan knocked Malak backwards and used the Force to assist her in a wild jump back onto the gantry. Pressing herself against the floor, she reached out with all the mental power at her and Avery' command. A muffled explosion and a frustrated yowl indicated the success of their plan.

The tendrils of power stretched further and further, first one, then two tubes, further and there were four life support units connected. Like a giant mental circuit the bands of power linked unit after unit.

"Revan!!" Malak's roar shook them both and the tendrils wavered. Avery strengthened the Force bonds while whispering reassurances to Revan. She didn't understand droids like Revan did, her job bypassing the security systems was done, now Rev just had to hold it together long enough to destroy the droid circuitry all at once.

Soon, Revan had retaken control of the threads of power, as they wove their way through the last two units they were stretched thinner and thinner, and the complexity of the Force weave began to waver. Avery cautiously took a look at Malak, _"He's starting to break free, Rev"_

_"Help me, Avery. I need just a little more power"_

Avery slowly pulled the Force back from their own body. Where it eased aching joints and held the edges of cuts together, where it made them faster, stronger, where it shielded them from the worst of Malak's dark power. She fed it all to Revan and the web grew stronger.

Suddenly dark tendrils of power slid oily bands about her neck. Feeling herself being dragged off the walkway, Avery shoved Revan to the back of their mind and erected every mental barrier she could think of.

"Did you really think you would win, Revan?!" the small woman hung in his Force grip, face rapidly going dark from lack of oxygen. A lightsaber fell to the ground as she scrabbled at her throat. "You are nothing. I and I alone shall rule the galaxy" he threw her against the wall then strode over to kick her. A thick snapping sound echoed throughout the room as his boot drove into her ribs. The force of the blow lifted the slight woman and propelled her into the wall again.

_"Avery? Are you alright?"_

_"Keep working, Rev. Let me take this,_" Avery's pained reply whispered through their mind.

Malak lifted her by her hair, snarling vitriol at her. Their feet hung in the air, all her weight suspended from his grip. Slowly, Avery raised both her hands into the air ignoring the pain in her side, the agony of her head, Malak's words and his hate. Cupping her hands she brought them sharply together against his ears, the pressure bursting an eardrum. Roaring he dropped her to clutch at his head, she rolled as she hit the floor, crying out as jagged edges of bone grated against each other.

"Enough games, Revan. This time you die!"

"You should have killed me earlier, Malak. Not toyed with me. Your own insecurities force you to break me, to destroy me. The Dark Lord of the Sith has to tear his old friend apart to prove just how bad he is. You're still scared, Malak, still weak, still second best." Avery spat on the floor and tried hard to ignore the taste of blood in her mouth, "Pathetic"

"Bitch!!" Malak called his lightsaber to his hand and charged her once more.

The web grew and grew; once all the life support units were connected the remaining tendrils sought each other out. They wavered as if in a harsh wind but Revan fed and guided them. She ignored the pain that tried to find its way through Avery's buffers. She wove them together into a single, complex, complete web of power. And flooded it with lightning.

The world dissolved into purple light, the smell of ozone hung heavy in the recycled air along with the scent of scorched metal and circuitry. Avery's eyes flickered open slowly; Malak lay in a crumpled heap on the far side of the room. Inside each of the life support tubes was a human shape curled into a foetal position. She seemed to hear a multitude of sighs and the students stepped forth clothed in the Force they had returned to. As one they walked towards Malak, arms outstretched. He convulsed and Belaya stepped forward to meet them. She smiled gently at her before fading away, leaving Avery wondering just what had happened. _"Revan, did you see?"_

_"Yes"_

Malak groaned and rolled over onto his knees.

_"When will he die?"_

_"Now, Avery, Malak's going to die, now"_

When Revan took over their beaten and battered body she nearly screamed at the agony that coursed through her. She called her fallen lightsaber and smiled a little at the satisfying smack of palm against hilt.

"Get up, Malak. You may insist that death is the only way to finish this but I refuse to strike you down from behind."

Revan knew what he planned to do before he had even started to move, she read his intention in the movement of his muscles and the tenseness of his body. As he surged to his feet swinging his lightsaber she raised one violet blade as if to deflect it, then flicked it off before they made contact. Overbalanced Malak staggered forward and the light from the second saber dimmed momentarily as it sliced through his chest. She tried to catch him as he fell but his weight dragged her to the floor.

"Im…impossible, I…I cannot be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith," Malak coughed and tried to struggle up only to fall back, chest heaving. Revan lifted him up, cradling him against her body.

"This is the way of the Dark Side, Malak. All things end in death"

"Still…still spouting the wisdom of the Jedi, I see. Maybe there is more truth in their code then I ever believed. I …I cannot help but wonder Revan. What would have happened had our positions been reversed? What if fate had decreed that I be the one captured by the Jedi? Could I have returned to the light as you did? If you had not led me down the dark path in the first place, what destiny would I have found?"

Revan's back stiffened a little at his accusation, "I am sorry, Malak. So sorry I started you on this path but it was you who chose to continue down it. At any time you could have gone after Renee. You know she would have waited for you, welcomed you. We were the ones who sent her away"

"I suppose…I suppose you speak the truth. I alone must accept the responsibility for my fate. I wanted to be Master of the Sith and rule the galaxy but that destiny was not mine, Revan…it might have been yours, perhaps…but never mine." The big body shook as he tried to breath

Sobbing Revan struggled to lift him a little higher, "No, Malak. Just...stay, just a little longer. Maybe I can…" She reached for the Force but they were both exhausted, desperately she pulled what little power remained from her own body, ignoring Avery's protests and the way blood suddenly flooded her mouth. Her own chest heaved frantically and Avery shoved Revan back into the recesses of their mind and pulled the Force back from Malak to support their own damaged body.

"Don't Revan, you can't kill us for him, think of Canderous, he's waiting for you, and Carth. I promised him I'd come back. Think of the vision! Don't give up on our future, not for him"

_"I have to try, Avery, Please let me go to him,_" Avery was swamped with emotion. Twenty years of friendship, companionship, of love. The knowledge that no matter what she did or how she messed up Malak would be there, sometimes to pick up the pieces, other times on punishment duty beside her, it didn't matter he had always been there. He was her best friend, her soul brother, her family and she couldn't abandon him. Not ever. Sighing Avery reached for the Force alongside Revan, it slipped from their grasp and they were both too injured and exhausted to struggle after it. Revan screamed and battered frantically at Avery's mental hold, "We can't Malak. It's not there. I'm…I'm sorry" Retreating Avery watched as Revan collapsed against Malak, sobbing into his chest.

One large hand slowly reached up to stroke her dark head, "It's alright, Rev. This is how it should be. In the end, as the darkness takes me. I am nothing." Revan caught at his hand and pressed a kiss into his palm, "No, Malak. Never nothing. You have…always been and …will always be my very dear friend, my soul brother." She gave him a watery smile and tenderly wiped away the blood that ran from his mouth.

"Tell…tell Renee…that …I…love…her…"

"Of course. She would never have doubted it, Malak. Never" Gently Revan closed the unseeing eyes and kissed his forehead. Then she stood and walked from the room. The destruction of the Star Forge would be a fitting pyre.

KOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTORKOTOR

On the far side of the Outer Rim a tall blonde woman sat straight up in bed, her arms stretched out before her as if something important had just slipped through her grasp.

"Malak! ...Malak? No…oh, no" tears slipped down her cheeks and she finally buried her face in her hands and sobbed heartbrokenly.

"What's wrong, Renee? Did you dream of N'Kai?" the slender purple twi'lek she roomed with sat on the end of the bed and gathered the sobbing woman into her arms, rocking her gently.

"No, N'Kai has never haunted my dreams. I knew he was ill from the moment he was born. I've known he would die for so long that, in a way I said my goodbyes while he was with me. This was… someone…I loved, a long time ago. I felt him die, Leela"

"I thought you couldn't feel the Force any more?"

"I can't. The Jedi made sure of that but …he was powerful and Revan moreso. I don't know Leela but he's dead. I hid from them when they came back and now…it's too late."

The twi'lek looked at her with wide eyes, "Renee you said…you said Revan"

"She's still alive…I have to get to her. I've been a coward for long enough"

"I don't think you've been a coward. You had to look after your son. Just don't…don't go all dark side on me, okay"

Renee shook her head, her irrepressible blonde falling in her eyes. "I'll leave early, thank you for everything Leela. You've been a very good friend"

It would take her a little over a year to work her way to the Inner Rim. Finding work for just long enough to get a ticket on the next liner or working as security on what ever freighter would take her. Eventually word reached her that a Republic Cruiser would be docking for a few days. A friend's friend told her a berth was available that she could use, as long as she stayed out of the way and out of trouble there was no real objection to her catching a free ride. Still Renee couldn't help the shiver of apprehension as she made her way along the umbilical and saw the ship's name. The Harbinger.

A/N: Please Review!!


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